Frustrations rise after 9 year old girl attacked by unleashed dog in Chicago: 'She was traumatized'

CHICAGO — Nine-year-old Natalie Sieracki spent her sister’s softball game cartwheeling on the grass in Horner Park Saturday evening. She didn’t notice the large, unleashed dog nearby until it attacked her.

When she broke away from the animal, she raced toward her parents in the bleachers, screaming and crying. Her back was covered in bite marks. Blood gushed from her leg.

“She was traumatized,” her mom, Marci Sieracki, recalled Tuesday. “She was writhing in pain. It was just awful.”

The attack has left some residents with mounting frustrations toward unleashed dogs in public. Just a few hundred feet from the attack is a gated, 25,000-square-foot designated dog park.

“There’s no reason this should have happened,” Sieracki said. “A kid should be able to go play on the grass and do cartwheels and not have to worry about being attacked by dogs.”

Residents across the city have fought for dog park access in recent years, with virtually no green space otherwise accessible to unleashed animals, and today, the Chicago Park District maintains more than 30 dog parks for unleashed pets.

The Horner Park Dog Park, which was first enclosed in 2018, was made possible by a $250,000 fundraising campaign. It features landscaping, turf, a water feature and separate area designated for small breeds.

Outside of “dog-friendly areas,” animals are required by law to be restrained. Dog owners who violate leash laws are subject to a $300 fine, according to the city’s municipal code. If the violation results in “severe injury” to another person, the fine could run up to $10,000.

Although dog bites happen, they rarely make headlines in Chicago. A man was fatally mauled by dogs on the far South Side in 2022. In 2012, a jogger was critically injured by two pit bulls in Rainbow Beach Park.

At Horner Park on Saturday, the dog owner stayed at the scene and was issued a citation, according to Chicago police. It’s unclear how often leash laws are enforced.

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